January 12
Events * 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople. *1528 - Gustav I of Sweden crowned king of Sweden. *1592 - Titus Andronicus first staged at the Rose Theatre. *1773 - The first public Colonial American museum opens in Charleston. *1777 - Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara. *1780 - The first issue of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (then known as the Zürcher Zeitung) is published. *1848 - The Palermo rising in Sicily rises against the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies *1866 - Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London. *1872 - Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years. *1875 - Kwang-su becomes emperor of China. *1895 - The National Trust is founded in Britain. *1898 - Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan. *1906 - Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet (which included amongst its members H.H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill) embarks on sweeping social reforms after a Liberal landslide in the British general election. *1908 - A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time. *1915 - The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress. * 1915 - United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote. * 1918 - Finland's "Mosaic Confessors" law went into effect, making Finnish Jews full citizens. *1926 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, a precursor to Amos 'n' Andy; possibly the first situation comedy. *1932 - Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate. *1940 - World War II: Russia bombs cities in Finland. *1942 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board. *1945 - World War II: The Soviets begin a large offensive in Eastern Europe against the Nazis. *1964 - Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaimed a republic. *1966 - Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended. * 1966 - Batman the TV series debuts on ABC. *1967 - Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. *1969 - Joe Namath and the New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III, becoming the first team from the American Football League to win American Football's top championship. * 1969 - Led Zeppelin releases their first album. *1970 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. *1971 - All in the Family debuts on CBS. * 1971 - Harrisburg Six: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington. *1976 - UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights). *1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. *1992 - A new constitution, providing for freedom to form political parties, is approved by referendum in Mali. *1995 - Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, is arrested for conspiring to kill Louis Farrakhan. *1998 - Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. *2005 - Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 rocket. *2006 - The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council. (ABC) * 2006 - A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims. (BBC) * 2006 - Turkey releases Mehmet Ali Ağca from jail after he served 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II. (BBC) * 2006 - The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship. (BBC) *2007 - Comet McNaught reached perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years. Births *1483 - Henry III of Nassau-Breda, German nobleman (d. 1538) *1562 - Charles Emmanuel I (d. 1630) *1576 - Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer (d. 1660) *1591 - José Ribera, Spanish painter (d. 1652) *1597 - François Duquesnoy, French sculptor (d. 1643) *1628 - Charles Perrault, French folklorist (d. 1703) *1715 - Jacques Duphly, French composer (d. 1789) *1716 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general (d. 1795) *1721 - Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, Prussian general (d. 1792) *1723 - Samuel Langdon, American President of Harvard University (d. 1797) *1729 - Edmund Burke, Irish statesman (d. 1797) *1737 - John Hancock, American statesman (d. 1793) *1746 - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss pedagogue (d. 1827) *1751 - Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1825) *1786 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (d. 1855) *1792 - Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist (d. 1841) *1797 - Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician (d. 1873) *1849 - Jean Béraud, French painter (d. 1935) *1852 - Joseph Joffre, French general (d. 1931) *1856 - John Singer Sargent, American artist (d. 1925) *1860 - Henry Larkin, American baseball player (d. 1942) *1863 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian philosopher (d. 1902) *1873 - Spiridon Louis, Greek runner, winner of the first modern Olympics marathon (d. 1940) *1876 - Jack London, American author (d. 1916) * 1876 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (d. 1948) *1877 - Frank J. Corr, American politician (d. 1934) *1878 - Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian writer (d. 1952) *1879 - Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d. 1968) *1882 - Milton Sills, American actor (d. 1930) *1884 - Texas Guinan, American actress (d. 1933) *1892 - Mikhail Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1976) *1893 - Hermann Göring, Nazi official (d. 1946) * 1893 - Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi official (d. 1946) *1894 - Georges Carpentier, French boxer (d. 1975) *1896 - Rex Ingram, Irish director (d. 1950) *1899 - Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1965) *1902 - Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969) *1904 - Fred McDowell, American blues musician (d. 1972) *1905 - Tex Ritter, American country singer and actor (d. 1974) * 1905 - James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (d. 1997) *1906 - Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (d. 1942) *1907 - Patsy Kelly, American actress (d. 1981) * 1907 - Sergei Korolev, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1966) *1908 - Jean Delannoy, French film director * 1908 - Clement Hurd, American illustrator (d. 1988) *1910 - Luise Rainer, German two-time Academy Award winning actress *1915 - Paul Jarrico, American writer (d. 1997) *1916 - Pieter Willem Botha, former President of South Africa (d. 2006) * 1916 - Jay McShann, American musician (d. 2006) *1917 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian spiritualist * 1917 - Jimmy Skinner, professional hockey coach (d. 2007) *1920 - James L. Farmer, American activist (d. 1999) *1922 - Tadeusz Żychiewicz, Polish journalist, art historian and publicist (d. 1994) *1923 - Ira Hayes, American soldier (d. 1955) *1924 - Olivier Gendebien, Belgian racing driver (d. 1998) *1925 - Scottie MacGregor, American actress *1926 - Ray Price, American singer *1928 - Ruth Brown, American singer (d. 2006) * 1928 - Lloyd Ruby, American race car driver *1930 - Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (d. 1974) * 1930 - Glenn Yarborough, American singer *1932 - Des O'Connor, British television presenter *1935 - Kreskin, mentalist * 1935 - Tomiko Ishii, Japanese actress *1937 - Shirley Eaton, British actress * 1937 - Vicente Sardinero, Spanish baritone (d. 2002) *1941 - Long John Baldry, British blues singer (d. 2005) *1944 - Joe Frazier, American boxer * 1944 - Vlastimil Hort, Czechoslovakian chess player * 1944 - Carlos Villagrán, Mexican actor *1946 - George Duke, American musician * 1946 - Lady Cosgrove, Scottish judiciary figure * 1946 - Cynthia Robinson, American musician (Sly & the Family Stone) *1948 - Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (d. 2001) * 1948 - Kenny Allen, English footballer * 1948 - William Nicholson, English writer *1949 - Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist * 1949 - Kentaro Haneda, Japanese composer (d. 2007) * 1949 - Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born film director *1950 - Sheila Jackson Lee, American politician * 1950 - Bob McEwen, American politician * 1950 - Göran Lindblad, Swedish politician *1950 - Dorrit Moussaieff, First Lady of Iceland * 1950 - Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (d. 1992) *1951 - Kirstie Alley, American actress * 1951 - Ann Althouse, American law professor * 1951 - Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality *1952 - Walter Mosley, American author *1954 - Howard Stern, American radio host *1955 - Rockne S. O'Bannon, screenwriter *1957 - John Lasseter, American director, founder of Pixar Animation Studios *1959 - Blixa Bargeld, German singer and musician (Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) * 1959 - Per Gessle, Swedish songwriter and musician (Roxette) * 1959 - Nick Nairn, British celebrity chef *1960 - Oliver Platt, Canadian actor * 1960 - Dominique Wilkins, American basketball player *1963 - François Girard, French Canadian film director and screenwriter *1964 - Jeff Bezos, American entrepreneur *1965 - Rob Zombie, American musician *1966 - Olivier Martinez, French actor *1967 - Vendela Kirsebom, Swedish supermodel *1968 - Heather Mills, British activist * 1968 - Junichi Masuda, Japanese composer * 1968 - Rachael Harris, American actress * 1968 - Mauro Silva, Brazilian footballer *1969 - Robert Prosinečki, Croatian footballer. *1970 - Zack de la Rocha, American musician (Rage Against the Machine). * 1970 - Raekwon, American rapper. *1972 - Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi. * 1972 - Espen Knutsen, Norwegian ice hockey player. * 1972 - Jason Sklar, American comedian. * 1972 - Randy Sklar, American comedian. *1973 - Dan Haseltine, singer (Jars of Clay). *1973 - Matt Wong, former bassist (Reel Big Fish). * 1973 - Hande Yener, Turkish singer. *1974 - Melanie Chisholm, British singer. * 1974 - Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian cross-country skier. *1975 - Jason Freese, American musician * 1975 - Jocelyn Thibault, Canadian ice hockey player *1977 - Dominic Etli, American soccer player * 1977 - Yoandy Garlobo, Cuban baseball player * 1977 - Cade McNown, American football player * 1977 - Piolo Pascual, Filipino actor *1978 - Jeremy Camp, American musician *1978 - Kris Roe, American musician (The Ataris) * 1978 - Kim Sa Rang, Korean actress * 1978 - Luis Ayala, baseball pitcher *1979 - Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player * 1979 - Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer *1980 - Amerie, American singer and songwriter * 1980 - Bobby Crosby, American baseball player *1982 - Sherzod Abdurahmonov, Uzbekistanian boxer * 1982 - Paul-Henri Mathieu, French tennis player * 1982 - Chris Ray, American baseball player * 1982 - Dimitrios Tsiamis, Greek triple jumper * 1982 - Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player *1984 - Scott Olsen, American baseball player *1985 - Yohana Cobo, Spanish actress *1986 - Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer *1987 - Will Rothhaar, American actor * 1987 - Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer *1988 - Chris Casement, Irish footballer * 1988 - Andrew Lawrence, American actor *1990 - Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian chess player *1992 - Mao Kobayashi, Japanese gravure idol Deaths *1321 - Maria of Brabant, wife of Philip III of France (b. 1256) *1519 - Maximilian I (b. 1459) *1583 - Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1508) *1665 - Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b. 1601) *1674 - Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (b. 1605) *1700 - Marguerite Bourgeoys, saint (b. 1620) *1705 - Luca Giordano, Italian artist (b. 1634) *1732 - John Horsley, British archaeologist (b. 1685) *1735 - John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668) *1759 - Anne (b. 1709) *1777 - Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1726) *1781 - Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (b. 1691) *1817 - Juan Andres, Spanish Jesuit (b. 1740) *1834 - William Wyndham Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759) *1856 - Ľudovít Štúr, Slovak politician, author of Slovak language, (b. 1815) *1899 - Hiram Walker, American distiller (b. 1816) *1909 - Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864) *1940 - Edward Smith, English soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1899) *1943 - Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and writer (b. 1902) *1944 - Lance C. Wade, American pilot (b. 1915) *1956 - Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894) *1960 - Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899) *1962 - Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian writer and feminist (b. 1869) *1965 - Lorraine Hansberry, American writer (b. 1936) *1976 - Agatha Christie, English writer (b. 1890) *1977 - Henri-Georges Clouzot, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1907) *1983 - Rebop Kwaku Baah, Nigerian percussionist (b. 1944) * 1983 - Nikolai Podgorny, President of the USSR (b. 1903) *1990 - Laurence J. Peter, Canadian-born educator et writer (b. 1919) *1996 - Joachim Nitsche, German mathematician (b. 1926) *1997 - Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1901) * 1997 - Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (b. 1936) *1999 - Betty Lou Gerson, American voice actress (b. 1914) * 1999 - Doug Wickenheiser, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1961) *2000 - Marc Davis, American animator (b. 1913) * 2000 - Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969) *2001 - Affirmed, American racehorse (b. 1975) * 2001 - William Hewlett, American engineer and businessman (b. 1913) * 2001 - Luiz Bonfá, Brazilian guitarist and composer (b. 1922) *2002 - Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b. 1911) * 2002 - Cyrus Vance, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1917) *2003 - Dean Amadon, American ornithologist (b. 1912) * 2003 - Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese director (b. 1930) * 2003 - Leopoldo Galtieri, dictator of Argentina (b. 1926) * 2003 - Maurice Gibb, British singer, songwriter, and musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949) *2004 - Olga Aleksandrovna Ladyzhenskaya, Russian mathematician (b. 1921) * 2004 - Randy VanWarmer, American singer and songwriter (b. 1955) *2005 - Alessia di Matteo, first survivor of eight transplants in one operation (b. 2003) *2005 - Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932) * 2005 - Edmund S. Valtman, Estonian-born cartoonist (b. 1914) *2007 - Alice Coltrane, American jazz musician (b. 1937) Holidays and observances * Tanzania - Zanzibar Revolution Day * India- National Youth Day Swami Vivekananda's birthday Religious feast days * Benedict BiscopAttwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4. * Saint Tatiana * January 12 References External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:January